“My hand did that, I have no control over it!” the actor later explained

First Cher, now Richard Gere!

A day later, the legendary singer dropped the F-word during a live chat with Hoda Kotb on the Today show, Gere visited the NBC morning news program on Wednesday, November 20, and began his interview with Savannah Guthrie by flipping her the bird.

“You just made an obscene gesture on this family morning show!” a shocked Guthrie said to Gere, holding up a stack of papers to hide his hand. “I’m beeping you!”

“You know, Cher was here yesterday with an F-bomb, so I don’t know what’s happening!” she joked.

Related: Cher Drops F-Bomb Live On Today As she shared the advice she got from Lucille Ball, “You said you’d make it beep!”

Related: Michael Fassbender Risks His Life for Freedom and Love Alongside Richard Gere and Jodie Turner-Smith in The Agency Trailer

So what made Gere raise his middle finger? It turns out he was just finishing a scene from his new spy thriller. The Agency. Today had shown a clip from the 10-episode series from Paramount+/Showtime to set up the Gere segment, but had cut the scene just before Gere’s character made the gesture.

“You didn’t show it, but I did in the play!” Gere explained. “That was the clip!”

“That was the clip, but we cut that part out. But then you did it live!” Guthrie said.

“I saw that, but without it it wouldn’t make any sense!” he noted, later insisting the move was unintentional. “My hand did that, I have no control over it!”

Based on a French series called The desk, The Agency Set in the CIA’s London office, it follows a secret CIA agent (played by Michael Fassbender) who must face reality after being forced to give up his undercover life. The series also stars Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston, Jodie Turner-Smith, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville and more.

Gere had been watching The desk with his wife, Alejandra Silva, which made signing up for the American adaptation all the more enticing when approached. This is the first time the actor has ever appeared in a TV series.

“It’s very well written… it’s amazing,” Gere continued Today. “I mean, they’re all great. And we shot it like a movie. We do it the same way. Movie directors, movie actors, the schedule is like a movie schedule. It feels the same to me.”

The Agency streaming November 29 on Paramount+/Showtime. Today airs weekdays on NBC (starting at 7:00 p.m. ET).